CHICAGO, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, reports that its private health insurance exchanges topped 1.5 million members in 2019. The exchanges, which employers utilize to provide health and benefits for active and retired employees, have expanded to a diverse range of businesses and have proven successful with employers that are geographically dispersed and demographically diverse.

Aon's exchanges create an online shopping experience where employees and retirees receive an employer-funded credit that is used towards the purchase of a health plan and other benefits. Employers using the exchanges provide beneficiaries with increased plan choice while simplifying human resources benefit administration.

Aon Retiree Health Exchange™ Medicare membership has grown nearly an average of 10% since 2016 and is now used by more than 140 employers across the U.S. Aon expects growth to continue in 2020 based on a survey the firm conducted showing 25 percent of employers are considering individual coverage options through exchanges for their retiree population. By transitioning retirees to an exchange, employers can reduce their retiree medical spend by 20 percent to 50 percent, and retirees can save$1,000 per year on average.

"The Aon Retiree Health Exchange offers a simple, trusted way for employers to guide retirees through the individual Medicare marketplace with expert one-on-one guidance and support," said Andre Walton, senior vice president, national practice leader Retiree Health Solutions. "Our results show that the exchange model is the most efficient and effective way for employers to administer health benefits to retirees."

For active employees, the Aon Active Health Exchange™ now tops one million members from more than 40 large employers. Employers using the exchange have seen a 2.7 percent per employee compound annual growth rate in health care spending over the last five years, which is about half of the 5 percent growth rate predicted for U.S. employers next year by the National Business Group on Health.

The active exchange also has achieved a 90 percent employee satisfaction score by creating a consumer-centric health coverage market that offers a menu of plans from multiple national and regional insurance carriers that all compete for members. This structure gives employers unprecedented cost control while empowering employees with a broad choice of health coverage options. In addition to employer savings, employees who used Aon's proprietary tool to enroll in top ranked plans saved an average of $885 in 2019.

The active exchange also offers health plans that allow access to the top 100 hospitals in nation, while more than a third of members are enrolled in high performing networks, which include 7,500 Patient Centered Medical Homes and 800 Accountable Care Organizations.

The active exchange will become more attractive to employers after the recent repeal of the federal Health Insurance Tax starting in 2021, which will save fully-insured clients and their employees 2.5 percent to 3 percent on premiums, according to Aon experts.

"Our pipeline of potential customers has increased since last year and we expect growth in membership to continue," said John Caldarella, senior vice president and national practice leader for Aon's Active Health Exchange. "Employers have been able to control health care costs and improve employee satisfaction with their benefits. We are bending the health care cost curve by building a system with more competition among insurance carriers and more choice for employees."

Aon was one of the first companies to build private health insurance exchanges with multiple carriers for large employers in 2010. After nearly a decade, Aon hosts one of the largest private insurance exchanges as clients continue to benefit from the model.